Conan O’Brien is returning to the Oscars stage in 2026. The late-night host and comedian will preside over the 98th Academy Awards, set for March 15, the film academy’s leadership said Monday.

“The only reason I’m hosting the Oscars next year is that I want to hear Adrien Brody finish his speech,” O’Brien said in a statement.

This year was O’Brien’s first time hosting the show, which attracted its biggest audience in five years. An estimated 19.7 million viewers tuned in, making it the most-watched prime- time entertainment show of 2025.

“Conan’s unique comedic style perfectly captured the moment, and I’m excited to have his talents back onstage next year to helm another indelible performance,” said Craig Erwich, the president of Disney Television Group.

Next year O’Brien will also be surrounded by a familiar team, with Raj Kapoor and Katy Mullan returning as executive producers of the show, and Jeff Ross and Mike Sweeney as producers.

The timing of the announcement is unusually early for the film academy and ABC.

Eisenberg offered training to land Bond role: Poland’s prime minister has made a tongue-in-cheek offer to U.S. actor and director Jesse Eisenberg, who recently gained Polish citizenship, to give him military training that would land him “the new James Bond role.”

Poland’s president recently conferred the country’s citizenship on Eisenberg, who has Polish heritage. On Saturday, Prime Minister Donald Tusk posted a video on X that showed him watching a clip of Eisenberg on “The Tonight Show.”

In that appearance, Eisenberg said, to laughter, that a day after he received citizenship he looked at the news “and the top story was ‘Poland now requires all males to participate in military training.’ ”

In his video, Tusk said: “Dear Jesse, there’s really nothing to be afraid of!” He noted that military training is voluntary. “So come over to Poland! And we’ll give you such a training that, the new James Bond role? It’s yours!”

‘Novocaine’ tops box office: Five new movies opened wide in theaters this weekend, including a starry spy picture from Steven Soderbergh, an A24 thriller, a “Looney Tunes” movie and a high-concept action-comedy with “The Boys” star Jack Quaid. But the myriad options did not result in box office gold.

“Novocaine” led the pack with $8.7 million, according to studio estimates Sunday, which was slightly lower than expected. The film starring Quaid as a man who literally can’t feel pain was released by Paramount Pictures in 3,365 locations. The studio also had early access showings the weekend prior, which are included in the total.

The Bong Joon Ho and Robert Pattinson sci-fi “Mickey 17” and the spy pic “Black Bag” were neck and neck for second and third place, both reporting $7.5 million weekends. “Mickey 17” had the slight edge.

March 18 birthdays: Composer John Kander is 98. Actor Brad Dourif is 75. Keyboardist Karen Grotberg is 66. Actor Vanessa Williams is 62. Rapper Queen Latifah is 55. Comedian Dane Cook is 53. Actor Sutton Foster is 50. Musician Adam Levine is 46. Actor Adam Pally is 43. Actor Duane Henry is 40. Actor Lily Collins is 36.